Tag Archives: JS Bach
LSO Master Works 4 – Program Notes
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th March 2026The following are the program notes I wrote for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s March 28 concert. Tickets can be purchased here. Price Symphony No. 1 Florence Price (1887–1953) was an important American composer and pianist. She was born Florence Beatrice Smith to Florence (Gulliver) and James H. Smith on April 9, 1887, in Little Rock,…
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LCO Program Notes – March 14, 2026
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th February 2026The following are the program notes I wrote for the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra’s March 14 concert. Tickets can be purchased here. Copland Appalachian Spring Appalachian Spring was commissioned in 1943 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge as a ballet for choreographer Martha Graham. The scenario portrays a young pioneer couple beginning their married life in rural Pennsylvania,…
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Death and Rebirth
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th January 2026In writing about Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, I mentioned how that inevitable event (death) had occasioned so much beautiful music. Hence, facing the depth of winter, I decided to assemble some of the most profound examples of macabre music. Henry Purcell (1659-1695) remains Britain’s greatest composer. His Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary is…
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The Greatest Musical Composition Ever – V
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd January 2022This one is beyond great. The subject is JS Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C min BWV 582. The autograph manuscript for the piece is lost. The date of its composition is also unknown. Bach was likely in his early to mid 20s when he wrote this colossal masterpiece. No one had previously written a…
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